As PawSox chase playoff berth, Alex Hassan rejoins Boston

Thursday

Aug 21, 2014 at 6:40 AMAug 22, 2014 at 8:52 PM

Jay MillerFor GateHouse Media

Milton outfielder Alex Hassan was a late call-up to Boston on Wednesday, as minor injuries to Mike Napoli and Will Middlebrooks left the big club a bit shorthanded. Recovering from a very slow start at the plate, Hassan has caught fire since the All-Star break, and was hitting .282 before his promotion.

Hassan had spent 10 days with the Red Sox early in June, getting one hit in seven at-bats, but that had been the time when he was struggling. He began finding his stroke as July came on, perhaps starting with a game June 30 when he netted four rbi against Durham. A 12-game hitting streak that began on July 3 had the 26-year old Duke University grad batting .425 over its duration, and that also included a skein where he homered in four straight games.

"I think basically Alex's timing is better," said Boles. "He is also taking some risks early in the count. We all know Alex is known as a hitter who likes to go deep in the count, and look at a lot of pitches, and that's why he gets a lot of walks. But lately we've seen him taking more risks, and going after pitches he can drive. It's a case of him becoming a little more aggressive at the plate. He's always shown patience, and had that very high on-base-percentage, but now we're seeing him be more aggressive, and it's been producing hits with real impact."

Hassan got to pinch-hit in the ninth inning of Wednesday's 8-3 loss to the Angels, and he grounded out to the pitcher on an 'excuse-me' check swing. That's not at all characteristic of the way he's been raking the ball the past couple months, so stay tuned.

PLAYOFFS? YES, PLAYOFFS

There may well be postseason baseball in New England, just not at Fenway Park. The Pawtucket Red Sox are trailing first place Syracuse by three games in the International League's North Division, but they have a three-game lead over their nearest competitors for the circuit's wild card slot. With the IL playoffs just two weeks away, Pawtucket must hold off Rochester and Buffalo, who are playing each other this week.

After Wednesday night's action, Syracuse stood at 75-65 atop the division, while Pawtucket's 9-0 win over the Lehigh Valley IronPigs moved them to 73-59. The Rochester Red Wings were at 70-62, in a virtual tie with the Buffalo Bisons at 69-61.

Just to make things interesting, the PawSox have four games remaining at Buffalo, and then finish their regular season hosting Syracuse for two games, and then Rochester for two more. But if the season had ended today, Pawtucket would be hosting Syracuse in the first two games of the first round of the playoffs. The five-games series goes two games at the lower seed, and then three (if necessary) at the home stadium of the higher seed.

BARNES EMERGING But the bigger story Wednesday night was the performance of 24-year old righthanded starter Matt Barnes, who allowed a first inning single, and then held the IronPigs--Philadelphia's top farm club--hitless into the seventh inning. When Barnes yielded a single and a walk, with one down in the seventh, his night was over after 105 pitches, but the Pawtucket bullpen kept the shutout intact.

It has been easy for Barnes to be overlooked, with the Pawtucket pitching staff including Matt Ranaudo (14-4 at AAA, and 2-0 in Boston), and prospects like Allen Webster and Rubby Da La Rosa, both now in the rotation for the BoSox. Barnes, who just turned 24 in June, made exactly one regular start for the PawSox in 2013, although he did appear in two playoff games after being promoted from AA Portland. Barnes had been tough while pitching for the SeaDogs, but had even tougher luck, going just 5-10 while fanning 135 batters in his 24 starts. But when you combined his Portland strikeouts with the one Pawtucket start (good for seven Ks) Barnes was whiffing hitters at the rate of 11.3 per nine-innings, fifth best in all of the minor leagues.

This season, a sore shoulder kept Barnes out of action until April 25, and he has been effective, although snakebit, enduring two separate four-game losing streaks. But the 6'4, 205-pound Danbury, Connecticut native, who was the Red Sox' top draft pick in 2011 out of UConn, is still considered the top righthanded pitching prospect in the whole Red Sox system by Baseball America.

Wednesday night before 6516 fans at McCoy Stadium, Barnes looked every bit the hurler he's been touted to be, fanning seven and walking three, with all of the free passes coming in the final two frames when he was noticeably tiring. Last night's win only pushed his record to 7-8, but dropped his earned run average to 3.89, and fueled hopes of the kind of late-season run that could help propel Pawtucket into that playoff spot.

"Matt Barnes really established his fastball, which was really crisp and explosive," said Pawtucket manager Kevin Boles. "His breaking ball was very good too, but his fastball, at times was just overpowering. We've seen it, over this season, improve with both an uptick in velocity and better command, and it has a lot of late life. His breaking balls have also start breaking really sharply, and really late. You need that kind of variety, going through a lineup three or four times, and our catchers did a good job of getting his mix of pitches established."

Asked if the preponderance of good young pitchers at Pawtucket--many of whom have already moved on-- has helped his development, Barnes said it has been a huge motivator.

"It definitely does (motivate me), " said Barnes. "When you look around and can see we have these guys with the ability to get up to the big leagues and be successful, it makes you work harder. Of course, we want to get up there too."

While most onlookers were praising his fastball, which clocked a consistent 94 mph, and his array of breaking pitches and changeups, Barnes wasn't thrilled with his stuff.

"Tonight wasn't one of my better nights," he said. "The big thing was getting a quality start and helping the team win. I felt good with my curveball, and I've been having a good stretch with my secondary pitches. I work on those other pitches whenever I can, playing catch, or in the bullpen, and getting a good feel for them makes it easier to pick the right spots to use them in a game. Being able to throw them all for strikes is one big component I've worked on a lot."

CRAIG AT PAWTUCKET

Rehabbing Red Sox outfielder Allen Craig played six innings in right field, and had a two-run single in three at-bats. Craig belted two long fly balls to the outfield in his other at-bats Wednesday, and seemed to be running smoothly on the basepaths, taking second easily on the throw home after his single, and then scoring on a Bryce Brentz double. Craig is rehabbing the foot and ankle he jammed playing for Boston, and is expected to play at Pawtucket through Friday night.